Kingpin investors raise energy stakes - Houston Business Journal:

jiqatili.wordpress.com
A bevy of high-profile asset managersd and hedge fund gurus returned to buying mode after taking financial lumps in the seconde half of 2008 when the value of energy companyg shares tanked along with the price of oil andnaturalk gas. Prominent investors such as all-star asset managerr Paul Tudor Jones, energy maverick T. Boone Pickens and hedge fund investor George Sorows dipped their toes in the energy pool once again and grabbed multipled stakes inHouston companies, according to regulatoryt statements filed this month. who oversees Tudor Investment Corp.
, founxd bargains in 10 Houston-based energy companiex or major players with a significant presence in the and also took a new positionj in WasteManagement Inc., still a big favoritde of Microsoft Corp. founderd Bill Gates. Pickens, who has spentr the past 12 months lobbyin for his plan to help the country kick the importeoil habit, still knows a fossil-fuel bargain when he sees one. The Texax oil maven took new positions in a wide range of energh companieswith beaten-down stock pricess at the end of a year that the bellwether Philadelphia Oil Service Indez dipped nearly 60 percent. Pickens dabblede in services players such asSchlumbergerf Ltd. and Halliburton Co.
, natural gas shale producer ChesapeakeEnergyu Corp. and high-profile exploration and production compan y AnadarkoPetroleum Corp. Soros took even biggef bites inthe process, gaining new positions in servicesd players Nabors Industries Ltd. and Weatherford International Inc. — after selling off his Schlumbergeerstake — while adding to his position in . Besidea his substantial switchinto Weatherford, Soros made another big move in late Aprik involving a Houston-based company by adding 3 milliomn more shares of Plains Exploration and Production Co., boosting his stake to nearly 6.5 million shares.
Energy analysts and asset investment managera who follow these movers and shakera say that after energy stock prices kept climbing in 2007 toward lofty highsin mid-2008, it’a been a while sinces the notion of value investing could be appliedc to the sector. “Timing is everything,” says Eddie Allen, seniot partner with Eagle GlobalAdvisors LLC. “There may have been an over-reactionb in the fall with the sell-off of oil stocks. There’s still a lot of volatility to deal but these investors did well in anticipating therise (in oil that we’ve seen so far this year, from the mid-$30sz to $60.
” Allen says that value investors are still playing a bit of a waiting game. He notesa that stock prices are natural gas has notfollowes oil’s recovery in 2009, and there are concernsz that prices could stay depressedf as inventories build. There is also more speculation, he about possible consolidationas mid-cap exploratiobn and production companies eye the pickingzs among smaller competitors. Dan Pickering, co-president and head of researc hat Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities Inc., says Soros and Tudor might have even addec more shares during the quarter if energyh stocks had not rallied and moved a bit higherrthan expected.
“The market took off so strongly in the firsty quarter that investors took a pause waitingh for a pullback thatnever came. They mighy have wanted more but the stockz got away a little bit on the Pickering says. All things considered, energy was the hottest investmenr gamein town. Says Pickering: “Th overall theme here is that investors became reengaged in whichdramatically out-performed the rest of the market in the firstg quarter, as people were just less terrifiec about the state of the world The energy resurgence party had some notable no-shows. While Pickens and Soros were pickingnew favorites, other big-namd investors were still cleaning house. Warrenh Buffett sold 13.
7 million ConocoPhillips shares in the quarter to reducw his stake to a stillsizable 71.2 million Buffet conceded to shareholders of his Berkshir e Hathaway Inc. asset management firm that his huge investment in ConocoPhillips last year when oil pricesd peakedat $147 a barrel was a mistake. Accordingh to Berkshire Hathaway’s May 8 filing of first-quarter results, the fund has alreadg sold an unidentified numbef of shares in thesecond quarter. The firm took a $3 billion pre-tax charge in the first quarter related to theConocoPhillips investment.
The filing states: “Althoughg we expect the market price of ConocoPhillipsa to increase over time to level s that exceed ouroriginal cost, we are likelhy to sell some additionalp shares prior to that time and generate additional capitalp losses that we can carryg back to prior tax years when we generated net capital gains.” Jana Partners LP, overseen by manager Barrty Rosenstein, also jettisoned some energy holdings, The firm dumpe d its remaining stakes in strugglingh Reliant Energy Inc. (now knowjn as RRI Energy Inc.), Transocean Inc. and The Williams Cos. Inc. Outsidw the energy sphere, Jana Partnersa sold off its remaining 823,269 shares of HCC Insuranced Holdings Inc.
after building up a huge stake with more than 4 millioj shares ofthe Houston-based company. Activisgt investor Carl Icahn generated plenty of speculation that he mightf be targeting Anadarko fora shake-up in 2007 and 2008 when he builtr up a huge stake in the Icahn squelched those rumors when he removed a big chunk of shares from the table in the fourth quarterr and sold his remaining 7.6 million Anadarki shares in early 2009.
Despite a willingness of some high-profilw investors to buy back into energy, one trenr still worries Jonathan Moreland as he tracks insider trading amony top executives in theoil “We’re just not seeing the insiders buying back in like they were earliere in the decade,” says Moreland, director of researchh for New York-based insiderinsights.com. “Intellectually, you know energgy prices will have to go up again as the recessiojneases up, but for some reason the insiders are not bullish, so for whatevefr reason, their silence is noticeable,” he “You saw some pretty smart people lose money last They’re not quite ready to bet on the High-profile billionaires and well-heeled hedge fundes were active in the first quarter executing transactiona involving Houston-based companies and multinationals with a majodr local presence.
TRANSACTION: After taking some heat in 2008 for what he latefr conceded wasan ill-timed investment in ConocoPhillips when oil pricews peaked, Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold more than 13 millionn of theoil major’s leaving the firm holding 71.2 million shares now worth $3.16 billion. T. BOONE PICKENdS COMPANY: Anadarko Petroleum Corp. TRANSACTION: Bought initial position of 50,000 shares through BP Capital Management LP nowworthj $2.1 million. COMPANY: Cabot Oil & Gas TRANSACTION: Bought initial stake of 100,000 shares now worth $2.9 COMPANY: Chesapeake Energy Corp. TRANSACTION: Bought 100,000 more shares to hold 200,0009 now worth $4.
1 COMPANY: TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 59,000 shares now worth $2.6 COMPANY: Halliburton Co. TRANSACTION: Took initial staked of 200,000 shares now worth $4.3 COMPANY: TRANSACTION: Bought 100,000 more sharez to boost holdingsto 200,000 sharesx now worth $12.4 million. COMPANY: Schlumberger Ltd. TRANSACTION: Took initial positiobn of 75,000 shares now wortj $3.8 million. COMPANY: Transocean Inc. TRANSACTION: Added anothetr 150,000 shares to boos t holdings to 450,000 shares now worthn $32.3 million. TRANSACTION: Bought another 712,500 shares to boosrt holdings to 4,135,850 shares now worth $183.
5 COMPANY: Frontier Oil TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 350,000 shares now worth $5.6 COMPANY: Nabors Industries Ltd. TRANSACTION: Took initial positioj of 750,000 shares now worth $12.6 million. COMPANY: Petrohawok Energy Corp. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 200,000 shares now worth $4.6 million. Plains Exploration & Production Co. TRANSACTION: Although not executed in the firsg quarter, Soros made a big move earlyy in thesecond quarter, addingv nearly 3 million shares of Plains E&P to increase his positionb to nearly 6.5 million shares, or more than a 5 percenty stake, now worth $151.7 COMPANY: Schlumberger Ltd.
TRANSACTION: Sold off entire holdings of 1,705,02 8 shares. COMPANY: Weatherford International Inc. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 4,963,000 shares now worth $92.9 COMPANY: HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. TRANSACTION: Aftere taking a large stake of more than 4 million sharees inearly 2008, gradually disposed of Sold remaining 823,269 shares in first quarter. Reliant Energy Inc. TRANSACTION: Sold all 600,000 shares held. Transocean Inc. TRANSACTION: Sold all 533,30o0 shares held. COMPANY: The Williams Cos Inc. TRANSACTION: Sold all 1,429,000o shares.
COMPANY: Anadarko Petroleum TRANSACTION: Icahn had built up a major cache of Anadarkio shares in 2007and 2008, but began a sell-off aftert the oil stock bubble burstf in mid-2008. Through Icahn Capitaol LP, the activist investor reduced his stak by more than 8 million sharesw during the fourth quarterto 7.6 million, and sold the remainde r in the first quarte of 2009. COMPANY: Cyberonicx Inc. TRANSACTION: After staying pat for several quarters, Icahjn quietly upped his stake in the medicakdevice manufacturer, adding nearly 100,000 shares to boost his holdingzs to 2,107,972 shares — nearly 8 percenft of the outstanding shares now worth $28.7 million. COMPANY: Baker Hughe s Inc.
TRANSACTION: Bought initial stake of 17,9090 shares now worth $641,894. COMPANY: Cabott Oil & Gas Corp. Took initial position of 11,500 shares now worth $343,390. Centerpoint Energy Inc. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 38,800 share s now worth $382,180. COMPANY: Dow Chemical Co. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 24,400 sharexs now worth $421,632. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 10,900 sharexs now worth $433,820. COMPANY: EOG Resources Inc. Bought initial position of 21,700 shares now wortn $1.5 million. COMPANY: Fluor Corp. TRANSACTION: Took initialk position of 11,800 shares now worth $514,598. COMPANY: Halliburton Co.
Took initial position of 33,30o shares now worth $709,290. COMPANY: Rowa n Cos. Inc. TRANSACTION: Bought initial stake of 32,000 sharesz now worth $604,480. COMPANY: Valero Energuy Corp. TRANSACTION: Took initial position of 32,300 shares now wort $663,765. COMPANY: Waste Management Inc. TRANSACTION: Took initial positio of 48,100 shares now worth $1.3 million. All stocko valuations based on closing priceMay 22.